The one that I love
by Captain-Holland
Summary: AU in which Steve works in the biggest sealife research center in the United States. One ordinary summer day he comes across a heavily wounded merman on the shore close to his home. The discovery sets in motion a chain of events that changes Steve Rogers' life for good - and not necessarily for the best. Stucky AU with background Sciencehusbands.
1. Chapter 1

If you would later ask Steve why he chose that particular day to expand his searches for rare seashells to the dangerously sharp rocks at the end of the beach, he would answer that he simply came upon the idea that the high rocks could very likely contain some shells that have been there for years, maybe even centuries. It was a very simple thought, but it was the one that saved the wounded creature lying between the rocks from dying a very slow and painful death. It's lifeless body would've been dragged back into the sea when the water rose again, and the body would've been found a few hours later back on the shore by the screaming children of some European tourists.

Luckily, that all didn't happen. Instead, Steve scrambled on top of the nearest and lowest rock and stood there for a moment trying to catch his breath.

Wheezing and with shaking hands he tried to find his inhaler in his pockets. Finally fishing it out he took a deep, comforting breath. The lightheadedness disappeared and he could think straight again.

"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all..." Steve mumbled while wiping away a few droplets of sweat on his eyebrow. His blonde hair was stuck on his forehead, but he didn't bother brushing the strands aside.

It was a beautiful summer morning and at this moment he had this part of the beach all for himself. In just an hour, however, it would be crowded with tourists and other people so he had to hurry before most of the shells would be stamped into the sand by ignorant sweaty feet. That morning he had left his home at about 5.00am, leaving behind a note for Sam with whom he shared the expensive apartment. His roommate often said that Steve could just as easily live in a broom closet since he was only ever at home to sleep.

The rest of his time he spent either on the beach or at the sea life center where he looked after the animals that found themselves there because they were severely wounded or because several top scientists who were researching sea life behavior were closely observing them.

Work would not begin until seven, so Steve took his time with searching the rock for anything special. Unfortunately all he found was a grumpy little crab that wasn't very pleased with Steve lifting the stone he was sleeping under and with a yelp Steve dropped the rock it was hiding under when he felt a painful sting in his hand. The crab almost got squashed by his own shelter and quickly took his leave over the rock where Steve couldn't see him anymore.

"Goddammit!"

Steve clutched his hand with a miserable look on his face as he sat down on the edge of the rock to look at the damage. He was lucky that little thing hadn't cut his pinkie right off.

Steve let out a sigh and tried to use his t-shirt to stop the slow blood flow. Suddenly he jumped when he heard something that sounded like the screech of a seagull mingled with the whine of a dog. It was the strangest sound he had ever heard and there was something... off about it. He only couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. It seemed to come from somewhere underneath him, and when he looked down his mouth dropped.

There, a few meters underneath the spot he was sitting was what looked like a person. He or she lay face down on the sand and didn't seem to move. But that wasn't what shocked him the most when he looked down - maybe it was just the merciless morning sun and the recent lack of oxygen that made him see things that weren't there, but... No. No way. He was just seeing things, like the dreamer he was.

After gaping like an idiot for at least another minute, he could hear the strange chilling sound again and he jumped into action. He let himself slide gracefully down the rock to land on his feet next to the person in need, calm and professional.

Or. Well. That was what he had in mind. Instead he lost his balance and actually tumbled off the rock with flailing arms and fell face first into the sand to ironically mimic the position of the stranger. The air was knocked clear out of his lungs and he got his second asthma attack of the day. This one was far more severe and a lot scarier because he was unable to reach for his inhaler.

Wheezing, he tried to calm himself down by thinking that there was no way he could pass out now, not when there was clearly someone who needed his help more than anything right now. Was that blood he smelt? It was far too strong and nauseating to be from the cut to his hand, so the stranger was in a far worse condition than he had initially thought.

Steve could feel the lightheadedness slowly coming back when he finally managed to roll on his back and reach a shaking hand towards his inhaler. A wave of relief washed over him when he could finally take a full breath of clean air again. His face was bright red from the sun and the great effort it took him to rollover.

After a few more breaths Steve remembered why he was here in the first place and he pushed himself up on his elbows. Luckily he hadn't landed on a rock, but he still winced when a shot of pain came from his fragile ribs. He dropped his inhaler and crawled closer to his now silent companion. He hesitated before he slowly reached for the stranger's shoulder and immediately withdrew his hand with a silent yelp of surprise when he touched the skin. It didn't feel like human skin - it felt extremely rough, almost as though he could cut himself on it, and it didn't give when he pressed on it. Not even a millimeter.

The stranger - was it even human? Was it his imagination after all? It at least wasn't an ordinary human, all right - let out another weird, strangled noise and hunched up his shoulders. There was something off about the stance of his shoulders, but that thought was quickly cleared out when the stench of blood got stronger when the- the creature lifted it's upper body with a soft whine off the sticky sand and Steve could see its belly.

Steve gagged and almost threw up when he saw the deep, sticky wounds clotted with brown blood and the steady, red flow mingled with yellow pus that still poured out of them. But it was the discovery of hundreds of wriggling little maggots that made him want to turn his stomach inside out.

He hastily looked away and his eyes landed on the legs of the stranger. His eyes bulged out when he saw the scales that covered his whole lower body. Steve could clearly see the outline of two legs pressed together underneath those strange scales. The legs almost seemed to be wrapped into this cocoon of thick, leathery skin and scales, with on the end no fins but what looked like long, thin feet with webbing between the toes. The feet were spread in a V-shape, just like the fins of the mermaids in his old picture book.

Another piteous whine cut through the silence between the rocks and Steve quickly pushed his frantic thoughts away and scrambled to his feet. He ignored his own little pains for a minute and thought frantically about what he had to do now. His excitement felt inappropriate when this half human creature appeared to be dying next to him and he pulled out his mobile and quickly pressed the speed dial of the center. On the third ring he finally heard the familiar icy voice.

"Sea life Center Stark Banner, you're speaking with-"

"Loki! Hi, this is Steve, could you please get Tony or Bruce on the phone? I got a - a heavily wounded creature down here at the beach. Please, it's an-"

"Emergency. Of course," said Loki in his usually bored drawl talking right over him. "I'll send Banner with a team. Stark is of no use, he would only clap like an idiot if he saw the beast... If it weren't for his money he would've been kicked out a long time ago... Anyway, the pet rescuers are on their way. Keep your phone on so they can follow your signal. Stay put, do what you can to keep the poor beast alive, blah, blah, blah."

With that, Loki ended their conversation and Steve was left feeling partly anxious and partly annoyed. Shaking his head, he knelt down again and reached hesitantly for the head of the creature, which was now thrashing around in agony. When Steve rested a reassuring hand on its rough brown hair, it startled and snapped its head around. Before Steve could do anything, he saw his own still slightly bleeding hand disappear between sharp teeth. That was not so bad in it's self until the creature bit down. Hard.

Steve had almost screamed his lungs out when Dr. Banner and his team finally arrived and freed him. Later, he wouldn't be able to say what the people in the narrow space between the rocks had said to him and each other nor what they did when they saw the creature that just had to be a merman. All he remembered was the pair of bright, brown eyes that looked straight back into his own blue ones. They looked human, but at the same time didn't even resemble human ones.

They looked straight back and showed nothing but utter fear.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun stood almost on its highest point in the sky when the van pulled up in the parking lot of the biggest and best Sea Life Center on this side of the coast. Maybe even on both coasts. This time, the van carried something very special. Something the world has thought of many times, but never actually seen before. At this point only six people knew of the existence of this extraordinary creature but soon the news would spread like wildfire through the huge building. If it wasn't for the strict contracts for secrecy, the whole world would've known about it before the sun went down.

Steve tore his eyes away from the mermaid - no, the mer_man_ \- in the middle of the van and glanced over at Bruce Banner, who still had an expression of total disbelief and wonder on his face. He couldn't really hear what Bruce was mumbling about to himself, but he guessed he wouldn't understand it anyway.

Steve hold his hurt hand gingerly and winced when another shot of pain ran through it. He had thought that the cut the crab gave him was bad, but this wasn't even funny anymore. He was lucky that the merman had only bit down and hadn't shaken his head or anything, or he could have lost the feeling in his hand or even his hand itself.

_Yeah, why didn't he? He was scared as hell and if he thought I was a threat he could've easily killed me even in his severely wounded state._

Two women opened the doors in the back of the van and Steve climbed out after them and watched how they first threw a bucket with sea water over the whole of the creature's body and then threw a blanket him before they quickly rolled him inside. Steve hurried after them with a hand still clutched to the bloody rag holding his wounded hand together.

When he walked through the doors he was hit by the cool air conditioning and sighed relieved. Bruce was giving instructions to his team and gestured wildly around when he finally noticed the small Steve standing in the middle of the hall.

"Oh, Steve! You better go see Natasha, I believe she is hanging out with Clint from security on the second floor. She can stitch you up. Probably. Sorry, I have to go. I mean this is _huge_. I- no sorry, I can call a ambulance if you-?"

"No no, please don't bother. I'll go find Natasha. Just- Just make sure he won't die, okay?" Even though the merman had bitten him quite painfully, Steve was still worrying about him and was hoping he would survive the day. And the one after that. Basically, that he would live and not die. Not like this. And yes, maybe Steve was also curious and wanted to know more about him. But no one could hold that against him, since he was the one that found him in a place _no one_ would normally go.

Bruce nodded and smiled at him briefly before he whirled around and disappeared through the door leading to the operation rooms. Steve looked at the closed door for a moment and send a quietly prayed that the merman with the scared, sad eyes would live. After that he noticed that his hand actually hurt really bad and he hurried through the corridors leading to the huge entrance hall of the centre. Despite the air conditioning he was sweating again and had to control his breathing before he had the _third _asthma attack of the day. And he hadn't even had lunch yet.

While he was walking towards the lift he could feel a pair of cool eyes stare at him and he turned his head. Loki glared back at him from behind his big desk that he kept so clean and strict that it seemed surreal to Steve. He waved lamely at him, but this only deepened the gaze of the long haired Scandinavian. Finally, Loki looked away with an eye roll and turned his attention back to his ultra modern computer. Steve hanged his head and pressed the button to the second floor. What he didn't know was that that look was Loki's slightly concerned glare and not his I'm-gonna-kill-you-all-in-your-sleep glare. But then again, those two glares were almost impossible to distinguish from each other.

The lift played an AC/DC song. Probably picked out by Tony. _Likely _picked out by Tony. Steve was glad when the lift gave a cheerful _ping_! and he could finally escape the loud claustrophobic space. His t-shirt stuck uncomfortably to his back and he shivered when a fresh wave of cool air washed over him. He stumbled through the corridor and halted by the door saying: 'Security video room - prohibited for unauthorized'. Steve ignored it and opened the door.

In this room was a far more pleasant temperature since Clint refused to work 'in a polar climate.' Said Clint glanced over his shoulder at him and behind him Steve could see the short red hair of the woman he was looking for. Steve opened his mouth to say that he needed a little help with his hand when it became black for his eyes and he rapidly saw the ground coming towards him.

It was clearly a day of repetition.

* * *

When he came to again he saw the carefully blank face of Natasha hovering above him. Her hand brushed aside a few strands of his hair and he closed his eyes at the welcome cool skin on his hot forehead. He lay comfortably on what must be the couch.

"Can you hear me, Steve?"

"...Yes," he croaked and tried to push himself up again. He hated being weak in front of others. Especially on this day when everything seemed to go wrong what could go wrong.

_And then there is that merman. Who is he? Where does he come from? Are there more like him? There must be, 'cause he's got to have parents somewhere, right?_

Steve hadn't realized he was drifting of again when Natasha firmly grabbed his shoulder and made him look her in the eyes.

"Steve, stay awake, okay? It looks like you have a minor concussion. Do feel nauseous? Does your head hurt?"

Clint appeared in Steve's vision holding a glass of water and with the help from Natasha he sat up and accepted the glass with a shaking hand, refusing to let them hold it for him when he took a sip. His wounded hand only stung a little now and was wrapped in a clean bandage.

"Steve?" Natasha prompted and a look of concern broke through her calm mask.

Steve blinked and tried to clear his head. It did hurt a little bit and he could feel waves of nausea when he moved to quickly. Gingerly, he lowered the glass and Clint took the heavy weight away from him.

"I'm fine. A little nauseous and a slight headache, but that isn't something new."

Steve tried to wave their concerns away with a shaky smile, but he never really was a good actor. Natasha crossed her arms and looked at him from a moment with a 'I know what's going on' expression on her face. After a few seconds she threw her hands in the air and walked over to the door that was now swung wide open. She stopped in the doorway and turned around to look at him.

"Go and sleep for a few hours, okay? Clint, wake him every two hours until he feels better again, all right? I'm going down to see what all the fuss is about. I heard that Banner was operating on some huge animal downstairs."

Before Steve could say that it wasn't exactly an _animal_ they were trying to save downstairs she was already gone. Clint, who hadn't said a word yet, looked over at him and actually threw a _blanket _over him.

"Sorry for the smell. It isn't piss, I swear. Uh, I don't really know what is. Sleep tight."

Clint patted Steve's shoulder in a too cheerful way before he left him to go sit behind the cameras again without even a trace of shame on his face. Steve huffed silently and tried awkwardly to find a comfortable position to sleep in on the narrow couch. After a few minutes he drifted off to an uneasy sleep full of blood and piercing brown eyes staring right back at him.

* * *

Finally, after several hours of sleeping and waking Steve was allowed to leave Clint and his stupid stinking blanket behind and instead of taking the lift he ran down the stairwell and almost ran into a big bulk of muscle and hair.

"Ah! Steven Rogers! What brings you here?" came the deep, cheerful voice of Thor Odinson, the best electrician in town. Rumor went that in his life he was electrocuted twice by the lightning but didn't had any permanent injuries afterwards. Basically, Tony loved him and had hired him as a kind of unofficial Head of Electricity, which meant that Thor was always somewhere roaming the corridors like a ghost. A very loud ghost.

"Er, I was going downstairs?"

"Why?"

"Er, to go feed the animals? I should've done that hours ago, but I-"

"Do not worry my friend, the animals have already been taking care of." Thor waved a reassuring hand that came dangerously close to hitting Steve in the face and he took a quick step backwards.

"I- I've got to go now. Nice talking to you!"

Steve awkwardly patted one of Thor's heavily muscled arms and quickly sneaked past him down the stairs. Normally he wouldn't be so rude with Thor, but he didn't have the patience to extensively explain that he really _really_ had something important to do and had to go. Bless the big guy's heart, but he wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box. Steve grinned at the irony of that expression and pushed the heavy doors open to the entrance hall. He saw a few people in lab coats run hastily around, and judging by the muffled sounds of talking people behind the doors leading to the meeting room there had to be some kind of meeting right now.

Steve walked over to them but before he could open the door a hand landed on his shoulder and he whirled around with an embarrassing yelp. Before him stood the brightly smiling Tony Stark. Steve blinked up at him and noticed his lab coat was covered in blood. When Tony saw him eyeing the stains he waved it away and said:

"Stevie, Stevie, Stevie. You son of a bitch. I've been looking for these creatures since I was a snotty little kid in poop diapers and you just happen to find one in plain sight on the freakin' _beach_!"

Steve opened his mouth to say something but Tony, like always, beat him to it.

"Yes, yes, he's fine. Well, not _fine _fine, but fine enough considering the circumstances. He seems to be stable now, so fingers crossed, right?"

Tony punched him a little too hard in the shoulder, but he didn't notice Steve's wince.

"Wh- What about all those maggots? I mean, they were literally _pouring _out of those-"

"Oh my God Steven, I just _cannot _believe you just said that! Ugh..." Tony rolled his eyes dramatically and threw his hands in the air. From over his shoulder Steve could see Loki at his desk looking at the scientist like he was the biggest idiot he'd ever seen. Steve suddenly felt the urge the laugh and masked it as a weird cough.

"I mean, come on. Every idiot who has watched _Gladiator _knows that maggots are the good guys! Well, for the most part. Basically, if it weren't for those maggots that guyfish would've been dead. They only ate the dead tissue in his body which meant that the infection wasn't as bad as it would've been without those little guys. We got him in before they started eating away on all the good tissue, so I have to say that I'm pretty pleased. Now, he is still under, and we're running a few scans on him to see how his body is pieced together. But soon he'll wake up again and we'll have to be ready. Can I trust you to prepare a pool filled with seawater for him? Preferably somewhere secluded and safe of course."

Steve widened his eyes at the request and quickly agreed he would do just that. Tony nodded at him and Steve could see in his eyes he was fighting the urge to pat Steve's head as if he were some boy who promised his dad he would behave at school. Instead, the genius scientist patted his sore shoulder again and disappeared the way he came from.

Steve hurried through another corridor towards the shelters and pools in which they held the animals of the Sea Life center. He had just the right place in mind for the merman he felt overwhelmingly responsible for.


	3. Chapter 3

When Steve was born in the Rogers household, they weren't exactly rich. It was just him and his mom after his father finally died after years of alcohol abuse when Steve was just a little kid. After that, his mother was forced to work full time to be able to feed Steve and put him through school. It wasn't an easy life for the both of them, but they made it work. Together.

Once, when he had to write an essay for school about his idol, he didn't hesitate for even one second to write about that single most wonderful person in his life. It was so good that his teacher read it aloud in class. Instead of applause, Steve received nothing but laughter and pointed fingers. He never really was the most popular kid in school and he mostly kept to himself on the playground with his sketchbook and lunch box.

After the essay the bullying intensified to an almost unbearable degree.

Boys called him names and waited for him after school to beat him up in an alley to 'teach the momma's boy a lesson.' Most girls leaved him alone, but there were some who would giggle and whisper behind his back about his thrift shop clothes and small posture. The fact that he had asthma and was sick all the time didn't really help much either.

Needless to say, school was like hell for him. But there was one little flame in the darkness; Margaret Carter. Or Peggy, as she preferred to be called. She was the new girl, but it was immediately clear that she was one the toughest girl in the whole school. She was the one who would sit besides Steve during lunch breaks and who would stand up against his bullies even though most of them were a lot bigger than she was. Steve often told her that he could manage himself just fine, but then she never believed him. Nevertheless, he loved her very much.

With Peggy on his side, Steve had regained his confidence piece by piece and pratically flew through high school. After he finally graduated he was full of plans for the future, but all of that came to an end when his mother died of pneumonia in the hospital. His heart was broken and when Peggy took of to enlist in the army he didn't know what to do with himself. The only thing he did know for sure was that he didn't want to end up like his dad and so he avoided all the bars with a grim determination. Slowly his mind sank away in a well of darkness and he wasn't sure if he would ever see the light again.

Steve knew his mother would've wanted him to go to college, but he simply wasn't sure if he had the energy for it with his fragile health and his depression. Actually, the whole of Brooklyn just held to many painful memories to remain there and thus he packed up his meager belongings and ran away all the way towards the other coast with the ocean that seemed so much different than the one he knew from home. With only a little bit of money and a suitcase he had stepped into the bright sun of California and started his new, unsure life in a place he didn't know a single thing about.

Then, by some miracle send from God, he had stumbled over some rich guy's suitcase and had hurt his knees pretty bad. To his surprise, the guy had had a good laugh over his clumsy fall and had helped him back up again.

If you would ask Steve now how he managed to get a job out of knocking over a guy's suitcase at the airport he would say that it was all because the suitcase's owner was none other than the world famous Tony Stark, and that the guy had done stranger things than throwing jobs around to random people. And that apparently included finding Steve a roommate called Sam Wilson, who reminded him a bit of Peggy. Yes, Steve to this day can't believe the huge amount of luck he had had that day. It seemed surreal to him, but Steve promised himself that he would try his hardest to actually deserve the job Tony had given him. He had looked for a therapist who could help him with his depression and his life slowly began to steer back towards the sunlight.

Now, he has worked for the Sea life center for about fourteen years and there was no place he would've rather been than here. After all the shitty jobs he has had in the past this was a welcome change. As often as he could he flew back to Brooklyn to visit his mother's grave, but apart from those trips he always stayed close to the center and the animals it sheltered. But since today the center had a special guest staying for a very likely long time and it most definitely wasn't an animal.

* * *

Panting, Steve tried to turn the rusty switch to fill the big, empty pool beside him with water from the sea. Finally he managed to yank it to the right and with a loud rumble the water began to pour from the pipes. Sweating again, Steve closed the door of the water control closet. He turned around and watched for a minute how the pool filled up far faster than he had initially thought. Satisfied, he walked around the pool and thought about what else would be necessary to keep a wounded merman safe from himself and for others. The pool was in a quiet corner of the center and only a select number of people were allowed in this area. Seclusion was for now ideal for the merman, since he would probably be very stressed and scared when he wakes up from the anesthesia. Before he begun, Steve had sent a message to Tony to tell him which pool he was preparing and had noticed that there were a few what's-apps from Sam. He hadn't had the time to read them so he had put his phone away for the time being.

What did the creature eat? Fish? Something bigger? The merman had to be a meat eater of some sorts, judging by the sharp teeth and the long canines.

A sudden shiver ran over his back when he thought about what could happen when the merman decided to fight back towards his captors. They all didn't know even the slightest thing about these creatures other then what they read in fairytales. How were they supposed to do this?

Steve didn't know how long he was standing there, circling questions and other thoughts around in his head when he suddenly saw the pool was almost full now. His heart jumped into his throat as he sprinted for the switch and pulled at it with all his strength. Thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his body he actually managed to do it in time.

As a precaution, he grabbed his inhaler and took a few breaths. He turned another switch slightly to warm the water so that it resembled the temperature of the ocean before he closed the metal door and locked it with one of the keys dangling from the iron ring in which they were bound together. Steve ran a hand through his hair and looked around the room. He started when he heard the harsh, creaky noise of the doors swinging open and he saw Bruce pushing a cart forward with Tony in tow. No one else was with them, which was unusual. It was protocol that with the moving of large animals there have to be at least four people in case something went wrong. But then again, Steve thought, this wasn't an animal and these weren't normal circumstances.

Steve walked a few uncertain steps towards them, but they had already lifted the blanket the still numb merman was laying on and had put him carefully on the ground. The creature had another special warmth blanket wrapped around its body, which Bruce cautiously pried open so that the bandages on its torso were visible. Steve still wasn't used to the sight of the tail and he stood there gaping at it until he felt a hand land on his shoulder. It was Tony.

"You better take your distance from him before he wakes up. Who knows how he's going to react when he wakes up. It would be very unfortunate if you got bitten again... Hey! Your hand is bleeding again, Rogers! What did you do with it?"

Steve looked down at his bandaged hand and saw that it was indeed bleeding again. He frowned at it as he let himself get dragged away out of the room by Tony with Bruce and his cart following. They went into a side room with a glass wall, so they could see into the room. The merman now began to stir a little and Steve looked on with awe.

"Everything should go smoothly. He has special bandages so that he can get them wet without it being a problem for his wounds. _Also_, he shouldn't be able to feel those bandages so he can't tear them off in a panic... But still," Tony went on, "we should be prepared for the worst."

Suddenly Tony began clapping excitedly in his hands and both Bruce and Steve teared their eyes away from the merman for a second to look at him. Steve with his eyebrows raised and Bruce with a look of faint fondness and a small smile. Steve shook his head slightly and looked back out of the window and gasped loudly.

The merman was now thrashing around on the floor as if he were having a seizure, and a loud growl echoed through the room and was clear to hear for them behind the thin glass. He reminded Steve of a stag jumping around with his antlers raised at an opponent. Bruce almost stood pressed against the glass and was murmuring something to himself that Steve couldn't really hear, but he thought vaguely he could hear the words; 'please', 'calm down', _'careful!'_...

After what seemed hours, the convulsions stopped and the merman seemed to calm down again. He pushed himself up on his strangely shaped arms and leaned steadily on them. He looked around, and Steve thought he could see the glaziness in his dazed but slightly stressed eyes. The merman shook his head and blinked his eyes, and he immediately seemed more alert. Steve didn't know he had been holding his breath until he had to cough and reach for his inhaler, while Tony shushed at him and waved a hand that he had to shut up. Steve blinked away the tears that had formed in his eyes after his coughing session and saw that the creature had disappeared under water. He tried to stand unto his tiptoes to see in the water, but he could only see a dark blur moving around.

"That... went better than we thought?" Bruce scratched behind is head and turned questioning eyes at Tony who looked back with a big grin on his face.

"It went better than better; it went GREAT! Pfew, I think I can pat myself on the shoulder now-"

"Oh, _you_ can? I'm sorry, but who saved his life again?" Bruce raised his eyebrow and stared until Tony finally cracked and put his hands up in defeat.

"All right all right, jeez... Nobody has a sense of humor around here..." Tony rolled his eyes and suddenly noticed there was a third person in the room.

"Stevie! My man, you delivered good work today. If it weren't for you, we would have a dead merman floating around in our exhibition room with the other rare, unfortunately passed sea creatures, instead of a live one swimming around right here! I could even kiss you right now, but that doesn't seem like a very good idea with my husband in the same- OW!"

"I'm sorry Tony, but you deserved it." Bruce smiled innocently at his offended husband and turned to look a Steve, who had been looking on sheepishly.

"Steve, I also can't thank you enough for this discovery. Because of that, I want to give you the honour to take care for him and also to name him."

Steve mouth fell open with silent delight when Tony burst his bubble for him.

"_What?_ Are you insane? Look at him; how is he supposed to handle that big, dangerous guy out there?" Tony pointed at the room, where the merman had surfaced again and was half crawling half dragging his body across the floor to the wall. He seemed displeased to find out that the walls didn't give in and he growled so deep in his throat that Steve could almost feel it.

"Excuse me? Tony, I've handled far bigger creatures than him. Also, I've worked with several deathly animals in the past years who could've all given me the final blow _any_ time, but hey, they _didn't_. I know very well how to deal with anima- _creatures_ like him, and you know that. I have more experience than any of the other animal caretakers and besides-" Steve turned and pointed at the merman, who to Steve's shock was staring at him with a sad look on his face from the other side of the pool, "-he _trusts_ me."

Silence fell into the room after that and they all looked at each other with various degrees of anger. Steve didn't like lying to his friends, but he was pissed of and wanted nothing more than to make sure the merman was as comfortable and content as possible in here. His sense of responsibility had only grown for the creature.

After a couple of awkward seconds Tony sighed and threw his hands in the air.

"Fine! Fine, just fine! You do what you want, but _I_ won't be the one responsible when something happens to you. I care for you, don't get me wrong, but this is just incredibly stupid of you. But then again, you're not the nineteen year old anymore, so I guess all the healthy influence I had on you is gone now. So be it. Watch out that he won't finish the job and doesn't tear your hand out for real this time..."

"_Tony!_"

"All right! Of course I hope he won't do that, but- Argh, I'm out of here. The merman seems fine now. I'll turn the cameras in this room on so we can keep track of him... Have a very nice _goddamn_ day!"

Tony had already walked through the door when Steve, his hands balled into fists and with a flush of anger still on his cheeks, called out to him.

"His name is emBucky/em from now on, not 'merman'!" he flapped out, thinking about how the mer- how Bucky reminded him of a deer a few minutes ago. Somehow, he had changed 'buck' into 'Bucky' and his mind had decided that would be a good name.

"Bucky?"

Tony stuck his head around the door opening and looked at him with a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

"What the _hell_ is a Bucky?"


End file.
